Thermal and wide angle X-ray analysis of chemically and radiation-crosslinked low and high density polyethylenes

Low and high density polyethylenes (PE) were crosslinked by two methods, namely, chemically by use of different amounts of tert-butyl cumyl peroxide (BCUP) and by irradiation with different doses of electron beam. A comparison between the effects of these two types of crosslinking on crystalline structure, crystallinity, crystallization, and melting behaviors of PE was made by wide angle X-ray diffraction and DSC techniques. Analysis of the DSC first heating cycle revealed that the chemically induced crosslinking, which took place at melt state, hindered the crystallization process and decreased the degree of crystallinity, as well as the size of crystals. Although the radiation-induced crosslinking, which took place at solid state, had no significant influence on crystalline region, rather, it only increased the melting temperature to some extent. However, during DSC cooling cycle, the crystallization temperature showed a prominent decrease with increasing irradiation dose. The wide angle X-ray scattering analysis supported these findings, The crystallinity and crystallite size of chemically crosslinked PE decreased with increasing peroxide content, whereas the irradiation-crosslinked PE did not show any change in these parameters. As compared with HDPE, LDPE was more prone to crosslinking (more gel content) owing to the presence of tertiary carbon atoms and branching as well as owing to its being more amorphous in nature. HDPE, with its higher crystalline content, showed relatively less tendency toward crosslinking especially by way of irradiation at solid state. (c) 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.